Bad day
by Caty-Cross
Summary: Roxas is having a bad day. Rated M just to be on the safe side because they do use some very bad language!
1. Chapter 1

Note: This is the first ever fan fiction story i wrote! Hope you like :)

Yes it is yaoi :)

* * *

Roxas had had a really crap day. When he'd gotten up in the morning he had felt crap, he had known it would be one of those days in which the world conspires against you.

At work , in Sunset Hill Nursery, he had been forced to deal with four year olds with the winter cold. They'd been sneezing and crying and wanting momma for five hours. Some had thrown up, most missed the bathroom. Roxas was used to dealing with that as his twin brother, Sora, was always sick when they were kids. He had had no qualms about cleaning up after and nursing Sora, he'd had no choice with his parents being dead and his older brother Cloud working most of the time; it was the fact that these kids should be being looked after by _parents_. He was cleaning up after and nursing _other people's_ kids. He'd got a severe headache by the end of the day.

So he'd been late to the library and to do all his college work that needed to be done he'd had to call his friend Namine and tell her he wouldn't make it to her art studio to paint. Trying to write a three page essay on Shakespeare for English was difficult enough without a raging headache. Then the rain had started. The heavens had opened and pounded constantly against the window.

By the time Roxas had got from the library to his car he was soaking wet.

Now, dripping with rainwater, with a huge headache, his essay _not_ finished and no painting, he drove home in a very volatile mood.

He finally reached the house he lived in with Axel, his best friend.

He fervently hoped Axel was not in there doing something with his boyfriend Marluxia, because Roxas wouldn't be able to deal with it today. He found it hard enough at the best of times. It hurt to see his best friend with someone else.

He parked his mini behind Axel's flash red convertible. He grabbed his satchel of the passenger seat and then jumped out the car. He hurriedly locked it and then made a mad dash for the door.

"_So much for a white Christmas._" He thought.

He flung open the front door and stood dripping in the entrance hall. He pulled of his shoes and kicked them out of the way by the wall. He hung his coat up, then opened the door to the rest of the house. The warmth hit him like a wave. He sighed in contentment and massaged his temples as he walked to his bedroom.

It struck him as odd that there was no sign of Axel. But maybe he had gone to Marluxia's place.

He dumped his bag on his bedroom floor and pulled off his wet, work polo shirt. He put on a black t-shirt with white stars on it and then changed his jeans.

As he walked out of his room, with the intent of finding some paracetamol and something to eat, his foot clinked against something. He looked down. It was a glass. He frowned, why on earth was there a glass in the hallway? He picked it up to return it to the kitchen.

He pulled open the kitchen door, and then froze at the sight that greeted him.

He had found Axel. With Marluxia. Their shirts were hanging off them and they were kissing furiously. Marluxia was almost lying on the breakfast bar and moaning as Axel's hands went places Roxas didn't even want to know.

His hand tightened around the glass. He ate sat at that bar. His already unstable mood tipped just the wrong way on the scale and he saw red.

The glass smashed in Roxas' hand. The pieces scattered and cut deep into his palm and fingers. Red blood dripped onto the lino. Axel and Marluxia pulled apart violently and attempted to pull their shirts back on.

"Shit!" Axel exclaimed. "Roxas, I..." His voice faltered at the look on his roommates face. His sapphire eyes were burning with anger and pain. Tears sprung up in his eyes. This was it. The icing on the cake. The spark that lit the inferno.

"Christ, Axel just..." Roxas tried to speak; he ran his hand through his hair, forgetting that it was pouring with blood. "Fuck," he swore when he realised what he'd done.

"Roxas lemme get something for that, you've gotta get the glass out!" Axel rushed over and tried to take Roxas' hand. Roxas snatched his hand away, hissing at the pain. Angry tears now coursing down his face.

"No, I'll just.... I'll go to Namine's, stay there for a while, just...." He could see Axel wanting to argue, tell him to stay, apologise. But Roxas just needed to get away. His day had been too crap for him to be able to deal with this right now.

"Just clean up the fucking kitchen and I'm talking disinfectant, on every surface."

He marched out of the kitchen, slamming the door.

"Roxas, it's... it's okay, we'll go to Marly's place!" Axel protested, pulling the door open.

But Roxas had his shoes on, his keys in his hand and coat hanging on his arm.

"What, and leave me to clean up your mess?!" Roxas yelled harshly. Axel almost physically flinched. He stood with his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water.

Roxas' expression softened.

"It's fine, Axel, maybe I should be the one leaving anyway." He said before yanking open the door and stepping out into the rain, leaving behind a distressed Axel and a, slightly triumphant, Marluxia.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:

Roxas threw his coat in the car then jumped into the dry interior. He swore as his hand throbbed, it had been washed clean by the torrential downpour, only to start bleeding again almost automatically. He jammed the keys in the ignition and started the car. He tore out of the drive and down the road.

Namine's house was, thankfully, only a couple of blocks away. Anymore and Roxas' self-inflicted wound would be bleeding on the upholstery. He swore. Today really was pretty crap. And Axel's little surprise had nearly driven him to hysteria. It was bad enough when they were being cutesy, let alone when they were eating each other's faces and trying to strip each other in ten seconds flat.

Roxas hated it. Hated Axel for picking Marluxia. Hated Marluxia for, well being Marluxia. Hated himself for not having the courage to tell Axel how he felt.

He'd been best friends with Axel since they were four, when the red-head saved him from the local bully. Axel had been with him through everything; primary school, first crush, parent's death, high school, first and last girlfriend. He'd always been there. In a way his brothers couldn't be.

Now they were both in college. Both had jobs. And Axel was still there. They shared a house. Both had paid half.

He loved Axel. He fantasised about being with him and his art began to reflect his feelings.

But, just when he thought he could work up the courage to tell Axel, Axel met and began going out with the 'Powder-puff boy', as Roxas referred to him in the safety of his own mind. Marluxia pulled Axel away from his best friend. So much so that Axel no longer noticed if Roxas was out later than usual, didn't notice that Roxas was failing his school work because he couldn't concentrate.

Roxas slammed on the brakes and almost went through the front window. A mixture of being lost in thought and the rain had caused him to very nearly miss Namine's house. He turned into her neat, sodden drive, the white flowers that graced the verge bowing their heads to the torrent.

He drove up carefully, cursing the rain, Marluxia, his wounded hand, Axel, Marluxia and his own stupidity and cowardice.

After successfully managing to park his car behind Namine's light blue bug, he hopped out and ran to her door.

He had barely knocked when it was flung open and he was ushered into the blessed warmth.

"God Roxas, you scared me so bad!" she said as she pulled him into the kitchen where, on the white table, was a first aid kit already laid out and a basin of hot water. She pushed him into a chair and sat down opposite him. She swung her white-blonde ponytail over her shoulder, donned a pair of glasses and took his hand in hers.

"I got a call from Axel," she explained whilst picking up the tweezers. "There's still glass in this, I'm gonna have to pick it out."

Roxas jumped when she poked his cut, pulling out a tiny sliver of glass.

"Ouch!"

"Sorry, don't move though, anyway, I got a call from Axel saying that you'd walked in on him and the powder-puff boy,"

Roxas' mouth twitched, Namine didn't like Marluxia either.

"And that you'd smashed a glass with your bare hand! He said you were 'so angry it was scary' and that you cried, he got the anger part but not the crying.... he doesn't know whether it was your hand or what he'd done that made you cry." She looked up at him with huge sky- blue eyes before returning to his hand.

Roxas sat in silence as Namine finished getting all the glass, then washed and bound his hand. As she cleared away Roxas spoke.

"Thanks Nam," he said. "And I'm sorry I made you worry."

She smiled kindly at him, stowing her glasses in her shirt pocket.

"It's okay, I understand." She hugged him tightly. He hugged her back, grateful that she was there for him.

Namine had been friends with Roxas and Axel for fourteen years now, since they were five. She was like their sister. Roxas and Axel told her everything. She knew Roxas' feelings. And now that Roxas had lost Axel, he began leaning more and more on Namine.

"Hey, look at your hair!" Namine tugged on a strand of bloodstained sunshine. "You've got hair like Axel's now! Go have a shower... and I'll go get some clothes and stuff from your place, yeah?"

Roxas nodded,

"'Kay." He agreed. He didn't want to go back, not now, but he'd need some clean clothes and his work. He sighed and stood up.

"Thanks again Nam, I don't know what I'd do without you."

"I'm sure you'd be living on the streets by now, Rox," she teased. "Now go on, and try not to get that bandage wet!"


	2. Chapter 2

Namine sighed as she knocked on the front door of Axel and Roxas' shared home. She hoped Marluxia was gone but doubted it. One of these days she was going to sock him and it would serve him right.

The door was flung open.

"Roxas! I.... oh Namine, I thought...," Axel frowned. "Why are you here?"

"Just to get some of Roxas' stuff." She explained as she walked past the flustered red-head.

"Is...is he not coming…?"

"No," Namine cut him off. "He's not; I think it best if he stays with me for a bit, okay?" She smiled at him.

"Yeah, yeah okay." Axel's returning smile was half-hearted.

Namine walked to Roxas' room and grabbed his bag off the floor. She stuffed the rest of his college work inside it and his sketchpads. Then she rifled through his wardrobe and found another bag. The bag he had taken when the three of them had been on a world trip after finishing high school.

She grabbed clothes from his chest of drawers and the wardrobe, conscious that Axel was watching her.

"So, is blondie moving out or something?"

Namine straightened up after closing the bag. She settled the satchel on her shoulder.

"No Marluxia, this is only temporary." She said, being forcefully polite. Marluxia was leaning on the doorframe, his pink hair pinned back with green slides. Axel was leaning on the wall in silence, his arms folded.

"However if things carry on, maybe he should move out." She said, looking at Axel as she spoke.

Axel looked up in shock, his lips parted.

"Good, then he won't be interrupting so often! It's like having to dodge the parents! He just needs to go out and get laid maybe then he'll mellow out a little."

Namine's blood boiled.

"Not that he's got anything going for him! I mean the emo blonde look? It's no wonder his parent's died!"

Namine snapped.

"Hey Marly that not f..." Axel started angrily.

Smack.

Marluxia looked stunned. Axel's look of surprise was almost comical. A red hand mark began to rise on Marluxia's cheek. Namine had put all her anger behind the slap and hit him like she had wanted to since she met him.

"Don't. You don't know what he's been through. So shut your fucking idiot mouth before I hit you for real!" Namine spat.

She turned to Axel and the red-head flinched as her anger turned on him.

"If this is what you put your best friend through every day, I'm surprised he hasn't left already."

With that parting remark she swung the backpack onto her empty shoulder and stalked out the room.


	3. Chapter 3

Roxas walked out the guest room of Namine's house, dressed in his own clean white shirt with a black long-sleeved top underneath and skinny jeans, with his sketchpad and pencil in his hand. He went into Namine's cosy living room.

There was a cream sofa with wine coloured cushions and a matching armchair arranged around a HD television on a glass stand. The cream carpet was thick and plushy. On the walls were canvas paintings. Some by local artists, some by Namine herself and a couple by Roxas. There was a large carved fireplace with a fire already burning in the grate.

Namine was sat on the floor in front of the sofa and on the glass coffee table was a bottle of red wine and two glasses, a bowl of popcorn and a pile of DVDs.

"Hey, thought we'd have a night to ourselves, with no thought for Axel or the powder-puff boy. I ordered pizza; we have wine, aaaaand...." She picked up one of the DVDs. "We can satisfy our inner child and watch Disney movies!!"

Roxas chuckled when he saw that the movie was The Lion King. It had been their favourite.

Seven movies, three pizzas, four bowls of popcorn and two bottles of wine later and Roxas' head was spinning. They'd given up on movies when the characters began to double and put some music on. It was one of Namine's mixed cd's and at the moment they were playing R.E.M's Everybody Hurts.

Roxas was lying on the sofa with his glass in his bandaged hand, singing along softly.

Namine was cross legged on the floor waving her glass in time with the music.

_Don't let yourself go,_

_Cause everybody cry's,_

_And Everybody Hurts,_

_Sometimes,_

_Sometimes everything is wrong,_

"Everything is wrong." Roxas sung along then took a gulp of wine.

"Like the powder-puff boy." Namine put in.

Roxas giggled.

"Yeah, pink hair!" He exclaimed as Namine shakily refilled his glass.

"Hehe he was wearing green hair slides too today, or would that be yesterday?"

Roxas laughed at the thought of Marluxia.

"I slapped him you know!" Namine said proudly.

"Really? Hahaha bet Axel didn't like that!" Roxas giggled and glugged his wine.

Then his smile faded.

"I love Axel... and he doesn't even know." Roxas said. He sighed and swirled the wine, making a miniature whirlpool.

Namine look concerned, before saying,

"S'cause, like most men, his brains are in his dick!"

Roxas burst out laughing.

"Yeah!" Namine raised her glass. "You don't need him! Come live with me and we'll forget all about Axel and his powder-puff!"

Roxas laughed even harder and clinked his glass against hers.

"Yeah I don't need Axel! I don't need him at all!"

"Woooo!" Namine cheered as Roxas jumped up and danced around the sofa.


	4. Chapter 4

Roxas woke up in a bed. How he got there he didn't remember. The last thing he remembered was dancing in the living room and telling Namine how much he didn't need Axel. He groaned.

He pulled the covers from around his head and looked at the clock. 9:30 it read.

He gasped and jumped out of bed. The world spun and his head ached like seventy monkeys were in there with drum kits. He didn't care though. Another half an hour and he'd be late for work. The thought of work made him groan again. Fifteen three to five year olds were not good for a hangover.

He grabbed his jeans and struggled to dress himself with a fuzzy brain. When he finally got all his clothes on the right body parts, he grabbed his bag and checked it had his college work and sketchpad in it. He had a minor panic when he couldn't find his artwork, and then remembered leaving it on the table in the living room. Praying he hadn't got wine or pizza on it he hurried out of the room.

The curtains were open on the window at the end of the hall and the sunlight burned Roxas' eyes. He ran into the bathroom and looked in the mirror. Then wished he hadn't. He had the most atrocious case of bed-hair he'd ever seen, his sapphire eyes were dull and red-rimmed and his skin was paper white. He scrubbed some colour into his cheeks with the facecloth and attempted to tame his hair. Needless to say he failed, his hair refused to behave.

Giving it all up, he hurried to the kitchen.

Namine was sat at the breakfast bar, her head in her arms and a cup of coffee cradled in her hands.

"Morning Nam, sorry I can't stop I'm gonna be late for work!" Roxas babbled in a hoarse voice.

"Meh, good luck." Namine mumbled.

Roxas swung by the living room and grabbed his sketchpad. Stuffing it in his bag, he tried to slip on his pair of grubby black and white chequered converse. He flung his coat on and yelled to Namine as he opened the front door,

"See you at the studio!"

He received a muffled grunt in reply and then he rushed out the door.

He'd barely gotten two steps before he slipped over backwards and landed on his backside.

"Crap!" He swore and his head pounded even worse. The rain from the day before had frozen overnight, making getting to his car a nightmare.

He struggled to stand up and then carefully walked to his car. He unlocked and opened the door, throwing his satchel onto the empty passenger seat. He just managed to start the car with much pleading and swearing, and then pulled out of the driveway.

He drove to work in a way that would make Cloud very angry and make Sora scream that Roxas was gonna kill himself.

He made it to work without any major accidents, and parked in his space in front of the nursery. He ran up to the door, slipped twice and burst in. He flung his coat and bag into the office, grabbed some paracetamol from the first aid kit and then hurried to the main room.

He took two deep calming breaths before he opened the door. He was greeted by fifteen three to five year olds screaming his name and each trying to hug him.

Eventually they all went back to their various activities and Fynn, the woman who ran the nursery and his boss, came over.

She had red-gold hair that flowed in natural waves and russet coloured eyes. She wore the same polo shirt that Roxas was wearing, a white one with a hill and sunset embroidered on the left breast with the words 'Sunset Hill Nursery' underneath.

Roxas clapped his hands together like he was praying and held them up in front of his face.

"Ten minutes late Roxas," she said in her rich, melted chocolate, voice. "That's not like you."

"I know, I know, I'm so, so, so sorry! I'll make it up to you I promise!"

Fynn folded her arms and then chuckled at Roxas' pitiful expression.

"It's fine Roxas, I need you to stay late anyway."

"You do?" Roxas asked lowering his hands.

"Yeah, Sasha's not well, so I need you to cover her shift too, is that okay?"

"Erm yeah, yeah that's fine." He'd have to cut his study time short but he had been late for work.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:

By lunch time, Roxas thought his insides were going to burn away. He was so hungry and his headache had gotten worse despite the medication he'd taken. As he hadn't brought anything to eat, Fynn had given him permission to walk into town and grab something from the bakers.

He breathed deeply. Inhaling the bitter, cold air of winter. He was tucked up in his coat and had his hands in his pockets.

As he walked past the shops he glanced in at the windows. It seemed everyone had Christmas things in already. From the supermarket to the newsagent. Tinsel and baubles and glitter decorated every window. Posters advertising the perfect gifts were plastered to the walls. Some shops even had Christmas music playing. One song was singing about not being lonely this Christmas. Roxas couldn't help but think of Axel. Christmas was usually the three of them. This year it might be just him. Namine was going to visit family and Axel had Marluxia. He'd go see his brothers but, Cloud had Leon and Sora would be visiting Riku and Kairi.

He sighed. Then squealed when he was mercilessly grabbed from behind!

"If you're sighing that means you're in love!" His friend Demyx's sing-song voice sounded in Roxas' ear. Roxas sighed again, more exasperated than lovesick this time.

"Dem, let go please, we're in a public place you maniac."

Demyx released Roxas and walked beside him.

"Sooooo, a little birdie tells me that someone fell out with Axel!" Demyx teased.

Roxas rolled his eyes.

"Namine tell you?" He asked.

"Actually no, I heard it straight from the horse's mouth, as it were."

"Axel told you?!" Roxas yelled, stopping so suddenly that Demyx actually carried on walking. "When? What did he tell you?"

"Roxas we're in a public place you maniac, keep your voice down." The dirty-blonde grinned.

Sure enough people were turning to stare at them. Roxas glared at them then carried on walking.

"So?" He prompted Demyx.

"Well, yesterday, Axel called me and said he needed to talk to me, wouldn't tell me what about, just that he needed to talk. So I went over and he told me."

Roxas ran a hand through his hair and stepped into the delightful warmth of the bakery. As the heat and beautiful smells assailed him, he tried not to think of anything apart from his lunch.

He placed his order and paid before stepping out into the stinging cold, followed closely by Demyx.

"And then I went to talk to Namine at her studio this morning." Said Demyx before taking a bite of his pizza baguette.

"Mmmm and?" Roxas asked around a mouthful of a hot, toasted, cheese and ham bagel.

"Well she told me that a certain blonde had been in love with a certain red-head since you split with Olette in high school!"

Roxas nearly choked. Namine had told _Demyx_! Of all their friends that she could have told, she chose Demyx. The whole world would soon know that Roxas was in love with his best friend.

"Why didn't you tell him?"

Roxas looked up at the unexpected question. Demyx had a small, sad smile in place of his usually hyperactive grin.

Roxas looked away.

"I couldn't," He said to his bagel. "I didn't wanna loose his friendship if things went wrong. And then by the time I'd got the confidence, Marluxia had entered the scene."

"Hmmm," Demyx looked thoughtful. "Why don't you tell him now?"

"What?!" Roxas exclaimed. "Tell him now?! Marluxia would..."

"Screw Marluxia," Demyx cut across Roxas. "Tell him and then just..." he waved his arms around in front of him. " Sit back and listen to the music, ride the tide, see what happens. That's what I did with Zexy and it worked."

Roxas drew a shaky breath. He threw the bagel wrapper in the bin and turned to Demyx.

"I don't know Dem, I don't know if I could. Besides I'm busy today. I'm taking Sasha's shift too, so I won't even get to the studio 'till six tonight!" Roxas gave his poor excuses. "Thanks anyway, for talking to me, tell Zexion hi and I hope he's out the hospital soon."

"Will do Rox." Demyx waved at the retreating blonde, an idea already forming in his head.


	5. Chapter 5

Axel was moping in the kitchen. He was sat at the breakfast bar with his chin resting in his hand. He was staring out the window at the sunset. The sky was painted a red-gold colour. But he wasn't seeing that. He was seeing Roxas' bloody hand. The streaks of red in his golden, sunshine coloured hair. The anger and pain in his sapphire eyes. And Axel was sure he had seen sadness behind that, and Roxas had cried. Whether from the pain or something else the red-head had no idea.

He hadn't been able to concentrate on anything all day. Not even the essay that had to be in tomorrow. He kept seeing Roxas' tear filled eyes and his streaked red, sunshine hair.

There was a knock at the door.

"S'open." Axel called down the hallway, not moving a muscle.

The door opened, but didn't close. Instead a dirty-blonde, skinny guy in a t-shirt that read 'but where's my guitar?!' ran into the kitchen and grabbed his arm, dragging him off the stool and babbling in his ear.

"Come on you gotta hurry Roxas is at Nam's studio only he won't be for very long! You gotta talk to him he has something to tell you only he won't do it if I don't push you together so COME ON!"

"Demyx, what the hell?" Axel was too bewildered to come up with a proper argument. But he had gathered from Demyx's high speed sentence's that Roxas had something to tell him.

"Come ON!" Demyx threw Axel's shoes at him and then his black coat. Axel barely had his shoes on before he was pushed out of the warmth of his home and into Demyx's battered car.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:

Roxas sat in front of the white canvas and stared at it. He was in Namine's huge studio. There was paint, pencils, pens, paper and canvas everywhere. The whole place smelled of paint and the piano version of the titanic love theme was playing on the CD player in the corner.

"Hey Rox, that canvas won't paint itself you know."

Roxas looked up. Namine about ten feet away, painting on a huge canvas. She was in an abstract mood again and Roxas couldn't tell what the painting was yet. She had a long brush in one hand and a palette in the other. She wore a paint spattered shirt that was a few sizes too big and jeans with finger and hand prints painted on.

"I know I just...dunno what to do."

Namine tilted her head.

"Try a picture from your sketchpad."

Roxas sighed and dug out his pad from his satchel. He flipped through the pictures.

Most were still life drawings of inanimate objects. A couple were of Namine, some of Demyx and even one of Zexion playing the grand piano at the college concert. A lot were of Axel.

Eventually he settled on one. He grabbed a pencil and began outlining it.

Fifteen minutes later and he had a basic outline. He grabbed a palette and began mixing his colours. He painted in the skin colour, a pale ivory white. Then the shirt, a midnight black. Then the eyes, an emerald green. The tattoo's under the eyes, a dark purple.

Namine took a sneak peek at his painting and smiled to herself.

"_Some things are hard to let go of_." She thought.

Last of all Roxas painted the hair. A deep, luscious, flaming red.

After an hour and a half of starting he had a flat picture. All it needed now was shading. Roxas put the palette and brush down and stepped back to look at his painting. He stared into the green eyes that seemed to stare back at him, no matter where he stood.

"That's great Rox," said Namine behind him. "Once you've shaded him, he'll look real."

"Yeah." Roxas agreed

"_But he's not as good as the real Axel_." Roxas thought.

He washed his palette and brush and then began to mix some shaders. While he was mixing the doorbell rang. They both turned to the hall door. It was odd that they had a visitor.

"I'll get it, it won't be important," Namine said, setting down her things and wiping her hands on the back of her jeans. "You carry on painting."

Roxas shrugged then went back to his colours. He heard Namine open the hall door and close it. He heard her walk up the hallway. Then there was just the music. The closed door and hallway meant that Roxas couldn't hear her.

He got the perfect colours at last and began on the eyes. He added sparkle and darkness. Made the eyes alive. He distantly heard the door open and close again and thought Namine must be back. The music drowned out the footsteps.

He finished the eyes and stepped back again. He added a little more light to one eye then smiled softly. It was perfect. He had managed to catch the life and vibrancy that danced in Axel's emerald eyes.

"That's pretty good Roxy."

Roxas nearly jumped out of his skin. That was not Namine. He turned to face the subject of his painting.

Axel smiled at him, the exact match of the one in the painting.

"Axel," Roxas swallowed nervously. "Didn't expect to see you here, where's Namine?"

Roxas turned to put his palette and brush on the table next to his canvas.

"Talking to Demyx."

Roxas nearly snapped the brush he held. Demyx! He had told Demyx when he would be at the studio and, lo and behold, here he was! With Axel in tow. Coincidence? Roxas didn't think so.

"And why are you here? Shouldn't you be with Marluxia or something?" He said in a forced polite tone, still not turning to face Axel and twisting the bottom of his too-big, paint spattered over -shirt in his bandaged hand.

"A...ah...well you see I... I broke up with Marluxia."

Roxas' heart nearly stopped.

"Y...you," he took a deep calming breath. "You broke up with him? I thought you were in love?"

"Ha, so did I! Guess I was wrong." Axel sounded regretful.

Roxas busied himself with trying to mix the perfect red to shade the hair with.

"Um, if you don't mind me asking...why? Why did you..."

"Cause of you."

Roxas froze. The paint pouring out the bottle unchecked. Because of him? Axel had split with his boyfriend, whom he had seemed to love, because of him? What had he done?

Roxas slammed the paint bottle onto the table and whirled around yelling,

"What?! Because of me?! That's..." But he stopped when he realised Axel was only a few steps away from him. He swallowed his retort quickly.

"Demyx said you had something to tell me." Axel murmured, looking more serious than Roxas had ever seen him before.

"D...Did he? Demyx says a lot of things." Roxas stammered. He took a step back and leaned one hand on the table to steady himself. He swallowed when Axel took a step closer.

"Yeah, but he said it was important so... tell me?" Axel stared at him with those intense green eyes.

Roxas had to look away.

"You'll hate me." he whispered.

Axel's face was disbelieving. He stepped forward and pulled Roxas into a hug.

"Roxy, why on earth would I hate you?! You're my best friend!"

"_Exactly._" Roxas thought. He clutched Axel's black shirt tightly and buried his face in his friend's shoulder. The familiar scent of Axel, cinnamon and wood smoke, washed over him. He hugged him like this would be the last time.

"Because I love you." Roxas' voice was barely a whisper. But Axel's whole body stiffened.

Roxas squeezed his eyes shut, tears leaking out the sides. He'd said it. He'd told Axel what he'd kept secret for three and a half years. He waited for Axel to push him away. Waited to lose the friend he'd become most dependant on.

But Axel defied all expectations. He stepped back and out of Roxas' embrace, only to tilt the blonde's chin with one hand and place a chaste kiss on his stunned friend's mouth.

"You know what?" Axel's voice was soft.

"What?" Roxas replied in a hoarse whisper.

"I love you too, and it took me this long to realise it."

"You...you love...me?" Roxas was trying to keep up. Axel had kissed him. Not pushed him away, or hated him. But kissed him.

Axel laughed tenderly.

"Yes Roxy, I love you." He leaned down for another kiss, this time deepening it. But Roxas pulled away.

"Me? Me not... not the powder-puff boy?"

"Yes," Axel sounded a little impatient. "You not the... the powder-puff boy? Who the fuck is the powder-puff boy?"

"Erm, it's what I nicknamed Marluxia." Roxas giggled whilst blushing red.

Axel laughed and pulled Roxas closer.

"God I love you." He whispered, before kissing Roxas like the blonde had always dreamed of being kissed.

"_Maybe, I won't be alone for Christmas._" Roxas thought.

Behind the hall door a white-blonde and a dirty-blonde silently cheered, did a victory dance and hugged at the sight of their two stupid friends finally together.

* * *

Okay bit of a bad ending :) Sorry about any spelling/grammer mistakes you find, tell me and i'll edit :) I kinda made Marluxia out as a bad guy in this please don't hate me for it :) He'll be a good guy in another one I promise!

Thank you so much for reading this :D


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